Garment press



y 1950 H. D. FORSE ETAL 2,516,054

GARMENT PRESS Filed March 15, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet l J6 11 v Ira/an ers:jj Ha rlzy .D. Bras and 5 fall 021E Cam pZeZZ July 18, 1950 H. D. FORSEETAL GARMENT PRESS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 15, 1946 ma 33 mm J A WJuly 18, 1950 H. D. FoRsE ETAL GARMENT PRESS 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 FiledMarch 15, 1946 July 18, 1950 H. D. FoRsE ET AL GARMENT PRESS 4Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 15, 1946 Harry E. .Fbnse and Rolling Ca 561/i atenied July 18, 1950 GARMENT PRESS Harry D. Forse and Rollin E.Campbell, Anderson,

Ind.; said Campbell assignor to Forse Corporation, Anderson, Ind., acorporation of Delaware Application March 15, 1946, Serial No. 654,550

32 Claims. (Cl. 223-73) This invention relates to improvements ingarment presses and more particularly to a press for ironing the sleevesof mens skirts in power laundries.

It is most desirable to finish a man's shirt entirely on pressingmachines without the necessity of any hand finishing. Many powerlaundries now employ finishing stations, each station including aplurality of machines for pressing different portions of the shirtactuated by several operators, whereby the damp shirt is received at oneside of the station, is passed through the pressing machines by theoperators and leaves the station in an ironed and folded condition.Presses have been developed for ironing various portions of the shirt,including the back, bosom, yoke and neck band, cuffs and gussets. Mostof the power laundries still use what is called a sleever for removingthe wrinkles of the sleeves between the shoulder and gusset. Thesesleevers for many years have included two spaced-apart polished metalsteam heated cones, adapted to enter the arm holes of a shirt so thatthe operator may pull the shirt over them to dry and possibly stretchthe wrinkles out of the sleeves between the shoulder and the gusset.These sleeves are not entirely satisfactory because shirts of differentsizes have difierent size sleeves and different length sleeves.

It is an object of this invention to provide a garment press includingtwo members adapted to enter the arm holes of shirts to receive therespective sleeves and then cause the members, or

ject to so construct a sleeve press of this kind that will be operatedentirely by air pressure; that will accomplish the pressing of the cuffand gusset at the same time it presses the sleeve between the gusset andthe yoke; in which the oper ator may actuate the control to cause thispress to operate while handling other shirts on other presses and byagain actuating the control the pressed shirt sleeves will be moved to aposition for the removal of a shirt.

With these and other objects in view, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred form of thisinvention with the understanding that detail changes may be madetherein, without departing from the scope thereof.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of a preferred form of thisgarment press having received the sleeves of a shirt (not shown) and 2moved to its vertical position as indicated by the dot and dash line onFigure 2.

Figure 2 is a view in side elevation of Figure 1 showing the sleevebucks in lowermost position to receive a shirt, with parts broken awayand parts shown in section, indicating a shirt sleeve in position indotted lines on a sleeve buck.

Figure 3 is a view in side elevation, with parts broken away,illustrating the sleeve receiving bucks in raised or ironing position.

Figure 4 is an enlarged detailed view of the mechanism for alternatelyinflating and deflating the buck bags, as taken on the line 4-4 ofFigure 1.

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary, detailed View in central sectiontaken on the line 5--5 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of thearrows, illustrating the cuff bag with the cufi retainer in position tohold the cuff thereon.

Figure 6 is a view in section taken on the line 66 of Figure 5, lookingin the direction of the arrows.

Figure 7 is a view in section taken on the line of Figure 2, looking inthe direction of the arrows.

Figure 8 is what may be termed a piping diagram illustrating the variouspipes, valves and controls for conducting air under pressure foroperating this press.

The embodiment of this invention as illustrated upon the drawingsincludes a press comprising two spaced-apart vertical supports I mountedupon a base 2 and joined at their ends by plate 3. The buck members forreceiving the shirt sleeves, B and B are supported upon a carriageindicated generally by 4, secured to the lower end or a cylinder 5mounted upon a vertical piston rod 6 secured to the base 2 and plate 3intermediate the supports I having a piston '1 intermediate its lengthwith the upper end of the cylinder 5 resting in spaced-apart engagementupon the upper side of the piston in the normal downward position. Eachbuck member B, B is mounted upon a central hollow tubular support 8extending throughout the buck and through a table 9 at the lower end ofthe buck to be supported by I and in communication with a horizontalhollow cylindrical member I!) the opposite ends of which are rotatablymounted in side plates l l forming a part of the carriage 4 carried uponthe lower end of the cylinder 5. In the lowermost position an angularextension 12 from the cylinder Ill is enhected to the outer portion ofthe table 9 and carriage 4 moves the bucks and buck supporting shafts 8to a vertical position bringing an extension l5 upon a plate l6connecting the underside of the table 9 with the shaft l9 intoengagement with an adjustable stop ll upon the carriage 4 to maintainthe bucks in vertical relationship.

Each buck includes a cuff and gusset pressing section and a sleevepressing section at its free end. The upper end of the hollow shaft 8mounts, and is in connection with, an axial cylinder 8 about which issecured a cufi and gusset pressing bag E9 of expansible and contractiblematerial with the interior of the bag in communication with the interiorof the cylinder 53.: .Mounted about each hollow shaft 8 between thecuilf and gusset pressing bag I9 and the top of the table 9 on each buckare two sleeve pressing bags 29 and 2| divided vertically by a formplate 22 mounted on the shaft 8. These bags are each'of expansible andcontractible impervious material and are similar in shape, taperingupwardly in cross section from a semi-elliptical bottom secured to theupper surface of the table 9.

Two heads H and H are adjustably mounted upon a frame 23 between theupper ends of the vertical supports I attached to the top cross plate 3.These heads are formed of a shape to cooperate with the bucks B and Beach having a spacedapart inner wall having polished inner ironingsurfaces adapted to be heated by the passage of steam between the wallsin the usual manner. Each head includes a cylindrical portion 24 adaptedto receive and cooperate with the cufi and gusset bag 19 whichcylindrical portion flairs outwardly and downwardly to form a surface 25cooperating with the sleeve bag 29 and 2E when the carriage 4 is movedupwardly to bring the bucks into cooperative relation with the heads.

The carriage i is raised and lowered, the cuff bags are expanded andcontracted and each of the two sleeve bags on each buck is alternatelyexpanded and contracted by the admission of air under pressure to expandthem and means to exhaust the air to contract them, as shown on thepiping diagram of Figure 8. An actuating control C in the form of aU-shaped lever extending about the front of both heads H and H adjacenttheir lower edges with the free ends of each arm mounted upon aconnecting shaft 26 pivotally'mounted in brackets 21 extending from eachvertical support I. The connecting shaft 25 is provided with arearwardly extending valve operating member 28 and a depending valveoperating member 29. The actuator control C is normally maintained inits upper or inoperative position shown in Figure 2, by the engagementof a roller at on an extension 3! from one'of the side members of theactuating control C engaging a notch in an arm 32 pivoted upon theadjacent bracket 2! and held in engagement with the roller by a spring93. This member is provided. withanother notch which is engaged by theroller 35) when the actuating member C is depressed. In the upperposition the valve operating members are out of operative engagementwith their respective valves.

Mounted on one of the vertical supports l is a valve 3 having a springpressed piston 35 with its piston rod 36 extending on the side oppositethe spring through the bottom of the valve casing. This valve has aninlet port adjacent the lower end of the valve casing connected to apipe P in communication with the source of pressure, see Figure 8.Adjacent the upper end of the casing an exhaust port 31 is provided.Intermediate these ports a port is provided connected by pipe 33 to aport 38 extending axially within the piston rod 6 from the upper end tothe interior of the cylinder 5 above the piston l, as shown in Figure 8.The spring normally presses the piston 35 to close the pressure inletport and connect the pipe 38 to the exhaust port 31, so that when thecylinder 5 is in its lowermost position with the top of the cylinder inengagement with the top of the piston I and the control lever C isdepressed the valve operating member 28 engages the valve stem 36 andmoves the piston 35 into a position to connect the source of pressure tothe pipe 38 to transmit pressure to the space between the top of thecylinder 5 and the top of the piston i to raise the cylinder 5 to theposition shown in Figure 3.

When the actuating control C is moved to its uppermost position thevalve engaging member 28 moves downward allowing the spring pressedpiston 35 to move to close the port to the source of pressure andconnect the exhaust port 31 to the pipe 33 whereby the weight of thecylinder 5 and parts carried thereby moves the cylinder downward overthe piston I on rod 6 and allows the air to escape through the pipe 38to the exhaust port 31. Air enters and leaves the cylinder 5 throughvent v at the lower end.

Another valve 39 is mounted on the carriage 4 below and in line with thevalve 34 having a spring pressed piston 48 with the piston rod 4|normally extended through the top of the valve casing by the tension ofthe spring. The depending curved valve actuating member 29 is normallyout of engagement with the piston rod ll when the actuator control C isin its uppermost position and when moved to its lowermost position themember 29 engages the piston rod 4| and depresses the piston 46 againstthe tension of the spring when the carriage 4 approaches its upper endof travel. The valve casing 39 is provided with three ports. One port 42near its upper surface is connected by the pipe 43 to a port 44, leadingfrom the interior of the cylinder 5 adjacent its upper end. The casingof the valve 39 is provided with a port 45 on the side opposite port 42which is connected by a pipe 46 to the buck bags inflating and deflatingapparatus. The port 45 is a sufficient distance below the port 42 sothat when the piston 30 is freed by the movement of the arm 29, thespring will move the piston to close the port 42 and allow the pressurein pipe 46 to exhaust through port 45 and out through the exhaust port47. When both valves are operated by the two valve operating members 28and 29 pressure from the source will first raise the cylinder 5 to itsuppermost position and then the pressure will be conducted through .port:54, pipe 53 and through the valve 39 into the pipe 46. When theactuator control C is moved to the uppermost position both valves willbe reeased and the air exhausted from the cylinder through valve 3'! andfrom the pressure operated mechanism through valve 3.! and from thepressure operated mechanism through the exhaust port 27 of valve 39.

The pressure pipe 46 conducting pressure from the valve 39 is connectedto branch pipes 48 and 49. The branch 48 is connected to the hollowshaft Ill supporting the hollow shafts 8 passing through the sleeve buckbags to the cylinder I8 supported on the end of each of these pipes. Thecylinder i8 is provided with ports 50 adjacent its lower end whichcommunicates the pressure from hmeidhi vd r ki i pr de with asi a'i PPGPW PBFFQ to a n ne. I alWe D l'fiPWQiWPh. ti l ndefejl and 54 areconneotedto each other by'a V i-sh pe po .7 lea in a DQfi Q- fi lEa h: c1 n r., sr -v d it W pi and mounted upQnni Qar dsi l' h fi ti tendingthrough theupper casing of the respecttive cylinders. The pistons are soarranged; on

ea hpi t n eel t at w n th hier ld st n en a es he top t e a ve l a ng.t i29 leadin f om ipefl fand y s Wi th: sen," nected to th p nes-5 fitsit e ehhaust port. .51. lo ed.- when the his Qaslare th lowerm s pos ionthe n et p t? iQ i t s m or pressure will be closed and the portsleading from p pe and 5t w l be o s ctsdte t exhau t. port fh rpipefi isconnec ed b branches 52 and E3 to the interior of the corresp nd n sleve press nshass 25' up n e h buck sothatwh nthepir .5 ycqnnecte hr u hv valve 5.2%. t e eursepr s e s iet ese pecfa e .b ss w -he in l t d andw en t es pipes are eonneeteol to theexliaust respective bass, wi lbeils d- Thames. 5 is c n ted t t e br h Wa n. 5 lead sie t et 1. t o hert oi le ve rress eba s 41 1 1 site dis sedl se l ehbssk-l Whe h stea imi der st of e. alv r m d i opposite directions the oppositelydisposed"sets oi? bags 23 and 2t willbe inflated and" deflated. Byalternately inflating onesetof bags while .l jiee s t as se m at h n ean second set of bags when "the masses of' 'bagsis deflated. o r e LQthe respeetivelbuclis, 'Inhrder to automatically accomplishthis"alterhatingbperation 'a cylinder Httispivoted ato'ne end tothebracket I l'of'the sure will be alternately applied to ions ofthe'sh'irt "sleeves embracing carriage 4 The irit'erior'upper endofthe'cylinder B5 is onneotedbyfpipe 55 to pipe 55 and iewer'ehd of thelcylindertfi' is connected by pipe se itdpipe at, 'Apistont'i'isrri'ounted on the: lower end of a'p'istbnrodhswhich rod ex-5 tends through theupperefid of the cylinder 65. 'The free end ofthe"pi'ston rod 68 is operably connected to one end of an operatinglever 69 which in turn is operably connected to the bracket ll of thecarriage 4. Intermediate thego upper extremities ofthe piston rods 60and 60 of the duplex valve 52, an actuating arm 10 is pivotally mountedupon the carriage i. The

actuating arm 59 has oppositely disposed eXten- 7 sions ll adapted tolengage and alternatelydepress the piston rods Errand 60 Theupper end ofthe actuating arm it is providedwith a roller 12 adapted to travel abouta stop 13 carried upon thearm 69. o All 01f center snap, movement is appiedtotheac u ns rm l b means of .the oi srr e 4 a d]? The Spring 14connected at one end to the lever"!!! above its eenter and atthe otherend to anaifm' i6 depending from. the pivoted "e'ridQofYthe leverftli,The I spring 853s cassettes atbne iidtdthe'xtiemity 75 insertion untilthe shoulder reaches a mark upon.

in an upwarclv'directionthel piston Bl will movethe stop l 13 upwardlyand at, the same 'tiine. increasifigfthe tnsiono'n spring iswhiledecreas- .ing the tension, on] the spring it so" that "as I thepistonjreachesthe upward end of its"strolre"the roller, 12 willftravelover the bottom of stop 13 causing the arm '10 to rotateabout its pivotand. 'in so doing will depress'the right hand piston. rod 69 to,ope'nthe exhaust from the right hand. sleevebags 2|v and undersidenofthe piston .61- Thislwilljallovlithe piston rod seen the left hand sideto move upwardly 'to connect the source of pressure to the oppositelylocated or leftliai'id sleeve bags fit and to the uppers'ide of thepiston 61 which will cause the lever 17:59 to rotateaboiit :its pivotina downwardly direction andcause the roller i2 to travelover theri'ghthandsurface of the stopiifiuntil the stopfpass'esunder the roller whenthe. spring '14 willfcause the, roller to Tpassov'e'r the stopan'drotate the arm m i'npthje opposite direction to assume, thepositionjshown in Figure, 4. ,v This cycle ,willbe repeated as long asthe valve 39 admits pressure from thesource to enterv the pipe 56- sothatlthere will be an 'al .ternat ticnand d fl tion f hQ QHIQ D d ingbags ofeach'pair of buck bags upon each In an, air 'operated jpress ofthe type described! it is" preferable to employa pressure of a roxnmately 60 pounds to the square inch in the source I of pressure foroperating the'l'eylihder 5 in moving the bucks into pressing position.It is'jalso pref- Qerable to employ a pressure or 15 to 30 pounds persquare inch in the cufi and pressing bags and from 5 to 10 pounds in thesleeve pressing bags 2i! and 2 I of the bucks. Itisthereiore'preferableto providean adjustable check valve #8 in the branch pipe f ifi leadingto the cuff bags lfl. to adjust the pressure jets desirable with alay-pass 18 thereabout to allow'the cuff bags is to be exhausted. It isalso preferable to place a similar adjustablecheck valve E9 in the pipe45} leading through dupl'ex valve to the interior ofthe respective bags20 and 2! upon each buck. It is also desirable to rnaintainthese buckbags"? rand 2| at all times under a pressure of approximately. 1 poundper square inch or less and this ispreferably accomplished by insertingin pipe between branch 551 and branches t2 and 63 and in .pipe 56between branch5t and branches E i and 65, relief valves [9 so arrangedthat air passes through them freely in one direction and in the-.reverse is opposed by a slightspring pressure to retain a slightpressure inthe bag being exhausted.

In the position shown in Figure 2, the carriage Q'has reached itslowermost position and the an angleto the vertical. receive the sleevesof a shirt.

arm holes of the sleevesand ma continue the the buck or until the cuffreaches a mark upon the cuff pressing bag or buck [9. Each cufi is thensmoothed about the cuff pressing bag and is held in position by a spring80 carried on the end of a piston rod 8| passing through the upper endof the cylinder I9 attached to a piston 82 which may be manuallydepressed to engage the bottom of the cylinder when the air has beenexhausted from the cuff bag [9 so that extensions 83 at the bottom ofthe spring may engage the adjacent edges of the cuff and hold it inposition, as shown in dotted lines on Figure 2. The operator thendepresses the actuator control C. This admits air through the uppervalve 34 to raise the cylinder 5, the first effect of which is to alignthe centers of the bucks B and B with the center of the heads H and Hrespectively, and upon further movement, the bucks are caused to enterthe heads until the lower valve 39 carried upon the carriage 4 isactuated to admit air into the central buck supporting pipe 8 and intothe duplex valve. The admission of air will cause the piston 82 carryingthe spring 80 to move upwardly as the air under pressure enters theinterior of the cuff pressing bag I9 so that as the edges of the cuffsare pressed against the pressing surface of the heads, holding springportions 83 will be moved out of engagement with the cuffs. As thisoccurs, the two bags and 2| on each buck will be alternately expandedand contracted whereby a pressing action against the interior of thehead is imparted to the sleeve between the gusset and the shoulderirrespective of the size of the shirt or length of the sleeve.

The expansible and contractible pressing members may be of elasticmaterial or any other material impervious to air under pressure which inthe expanded position will force the portions of the shirt sleeve intoironing engagement with the interior surface of the head and when theair is exhausted may shrink or collapse together in folds.

What we claim is:

1, A garment press comprising, a sleeve receiving buck, a cooperatinghead operably associated with said buck, means for moving said buck andsaid head into telescoped relation, expansible and contractible means onsaid buck, and control means automatically operable upon the movement ofsaid buck and said head into telescoped relation for intermittentlyexpanding the expansible and contractible means on said buck.

2. A garment press comprising, a buck, a hollow head operably associatedwith said buck, means for moving said head and said buck into pressingrelation, expansible and contractible means carried by said buck, meansactuated by the movement of said buck and said head into pressingrelation for expanding said expansible and contractible means, and meansfor alternately expanding and contracting said expansible andcontractible means when said buck and said head are in pressingrelation.

3. A garment press comprising, cooperative pressing elements disposed tobe moved into and out of telescoped relation with each other, expansibleand contractible means carried by one of said elements, means actuatedby the movement of said elements into telescoped relation for expandingsaid expansible and contractible means, and means for alternatelyexpanding and contracting said expansible and contractible means whensaid cooperative pressing elements are in telescoped relation.

4. A garment press comprising, a form upon.

which a piece of Work may be carried, a second form, means for movingsaid forms into and out of pressing relation, and means for alternatelymoving different portions of one form toward and from the other formwhile said forms are in pressing relation to press a piece of workcarried by one of said forms.

5. In a garment press including, in combination, a plurality of pressingsurfaces, means for moving said plurality of pressing surfaces into andout of opposed relation, pressure actuated means for expanding andcontracting certain positions of said surfaces, control means operableupon the movement of said plurality of pressing surfaces into opposedrelation to initiate operation of said pressure actuated means, andmeans for maintaining a minimum expanding force upon certain portions ofsaid expanding and contracting surfaces.

6. In a garment press comprising, in combination, a plurality ofpressing surfaces, means for moving said plurality of pressing surfacesinto and out of opposed relation, certain of said pressing surfacesincluding expansible and contractible compartments, pressure meansconnected to said compartments, and pressure control means operable torelatively vary the pressure in the various compartments and thereby theforce exerted against the surface opposing each compartment.

7. In a garment press, a plurality of cooperating pressing elements,means for moving said elements into and out of opposed pressingrelation, said elements including a plurality of separately inflatablemembers, pressure means connected to said inflatable members, and meansfor controlling the inflation and deflation of said members, saidcontrol means being operable to synchronize the inflation of certain ofsaid inflatable members with the deflation of certain other of saidinflatable members.

8. The structure of claim '7, wherein the means for moving said elementsinto and out of opposed pressing relation includes a vertical rod and acylinder mounted to slide axially upon said rod.

9. The structure of claim 7, wherein the means for moving said elementsinto and out of opposed pressing relation includes a vertical rod, acylinder mounted to slide axially upon said rod, a piston fixed uponsaid rod within said cylinder adjacent the top of the cylinder when itis in its lowermost position, and means for admitting air under pressurebetween the upper cylinder head and the top of the piston to force thecylinder and cooperating pressing elements into opposed pressingrelation position.

10. The structure of claim 7, wherein the means for moving said elementsinto and out of opposed pressing relation includes a vertical rod, acylinder mounted to slide axially upon said rod, a piston fixed to saidrod within said cylinder adjacent.

the top of the cylinder when it is in its lowermost position, and meansfor admitting air under pressure between the upper cylinder head and thetop of the piston to force the cylinder and cooperating pressingelements into opposed pressing relation position, and means to exhaustsaid pressure to allow the cylinder and elements to move from opposedpressing relation position.

11. In a garment press, a buck adapted to be inserted through a sleeveand receive and press the cuff, gusset and entire sleeve portionthereof, a cooperating head to receive said buck,

means for moving said respective parts into-and,

when said buck and head are in pressing re1a-,

control for admitting air under pressure to said cylinder to move saidbuck means into pressing relation with the head means, and means to ad"mit air under pressure to the said pressing memtion to reciprocateopposed-portions of the buck bers to press a portion of a shirt againstthe ironing surface upon the interior of said head member to press thesleeve, gusset. and cuff.

against the interior ofthe head.

12. A garment press including asleeve receiving buck and a hollow headto receive and surround said buck, means operated by air under. pressureto move said buckand head into and out of pressing relation, exp-ansibleand contractible members on the buck to press the sleeve against theinterior of the head operated by air under pressure, manual means toactuate said moving means, and means to admit airunder pressure to thebuck members actuated by the entry of the buck within the head.

13. The structure of claim 12, wherein said means for actuating saidmoving means is provided with means cooperating with said lastnamedlmeans when the first named means has been actuated in onedirection.

14. The structure of claim 12, wherein said manual means in one positionadmits air under pressure to impart movement in one direction, and inanother position exhausts air to impart movement in the oppositedirection.

15. The structure of claim 12 and means ac-;

tuated as the buck is withdrawn from, the interior of the head toexhaust the air from the buck.

16. A garment sleeve press operated by air under pressure including asleeve buck having expansible and contractible pressing members mountedupon a carriage, a head to receive the buck, a cylinder mounted uponsaid carriage, a piston within the said cylinder, a stationary pistonrod therefor passing through both'ends of. the cylinder, an air valveconnected to a source of air under pressure adapted in one position toadmit air under pressure within the cylinder at one side of the pistonto move the cylinderand carriage to bring the buck into pressingrelation with the head and in another position to exhaust the air fromthe cylinder to reverse the movement of the buck, and a manuallyactuated control for operating the said air valve.

17. The structure of'claim 16, wherein a second air valve is providedupon the carriage connecting in one position air under pressure to theinterior of said pressing members and in another position to an exhaustfor the air under pressure therefrom.

18. The structure of claim 16,wherein a sec ond air valve is providedupon the carriage connecting in one position air under pressure to theinterior'of said pressing members and in an other position to an exhaustfor the air under pressure therefrom, and means upon the controlcooperating with the second air valve to admit air under pressure to thepressing members of the bucks after air under pressure has been admittedto the cylinder.

19. A manually actuated compressed air operated garment sleeve pressincluding a base, two spaced-apart uprights mounted thereon, ,a pistonrod mounted upon the base intermediate the uprights, a piston fixed uponsaid rod intermediate its length, a cylinder mounted for reciprocationupon the piston rod and about the piston thereon, a carriage mountedupon the cylinder, buck means mounted upon the carriage, buck receivinghead means mounted uponsaid uprights, expansible and contractible.pressing members upon said buck means, a, manually actuated means.

20..The structure of. claim 19, wherein the means for admitting airunder pressure to the ,pressing members includes a valve to admit airunder pressure from the cylinder after the cylinder has moved the buckmeans into pressing relation with the. head means.

2 1. The structure of claim 19, wherein the carria'ge mounts a valve inline with an actuating arm carried on said control when said control hasbeen actuated to admit air under pressure tosaid cylinder to be engagedby said valve as the carriage approaches its end of movement to admitair under pressure to said pressing members.

22. The structure of claim 19, wherein the carriage mounts a valve inline with an actuating member carried upon said control when saidcontrol has been actuated to admitair under pressure to said cylinder tobe engaged by said valve asthe carriage approaches the end of itsmovement to admit air under pressure to said pressing members and toactuate said valve upon the carriage to exhaust the air under pressurefrom said pressing members as the carriage starts to move in theopposite direction.

23. Ina garment sleeve press, a base, spacedapart uprights mounted uponsaid base, a pair of sleevebucks mounted upon a carriage, a pair ofheads to receive the sleeve bucks mounted upon said uprights above saidbucks, a cylinder mounting said carriage adapted for axial movement upona piston rod and a piston for moving the bucks into and out of pressingrelation with said heads, a source of air under pressure, an air valveon an upright adjacent a head, a second air valveupon the carriage belowand in line with said first airvalve, ,a manually actuating controlforoperating, both valves, each buck carried on a hollow shaft rotatablymounted upon and in comrnunication with a hollow transverse shaft incommunication with said second air valve mountedupon the carriage, anexpansible and contractible pressing member mounted upon the end of saidbuck supporting shaft, said pressing member adapted to receive the cuffand gusset of a shirt sleeve, each of said bucks including twoexpansible and contractible pressing members below-the cuff and gussetressing member arranged on opposite sides of the center shaft forpressing the shirt sleeves between the gusset and shoulder, thecorresponding sleeve pressing members on the same side of each buck incommunication with said valveupon the carriage, whereby when thecarriage is in its lower-most position with both air valves closed andthe manual control operated in one direction, air under pressure isadmitted through the upper valve tothe cylinder to move the bucks intopressing relation within the heads and as the carriage aproaches itsupper end of travel to admit air under pressure through the second valveto equally. and simultaneously expand the cuffs and gusset pressingmembers and to equally and simultaneously expand the sleeve pressingmembers whereby both sleeves of a shirt are simultaneously givenprecisely the same pressing finish.

24:. The structure of claim 23, wherein an automatic duplexvalveoperated by air under pressure 11 is interposed between the sleevepressing members and the second air valve to continuously andalternately admit air under pressure to and'exhaust from the.complementary sleeve pressing,

members as long as airunder pressure is admitted through the secondvalve.

25. The structure of claim 23, wherein an automatic duplex valveoperated by. airunder pressure is interposed between the sleeve pressingmembers and the second air-valve to continuously and alternately admitair under pressure to and exhaust from the complementary sleeve pressingmembers as long as air .under pressure is admitted through the secondvalve, and wherein, said duplex valve includes two cylinders connectedto a common exhaust and each cylinder connected to the second valve,pistons in each cylinder movable to connect the second valve to theinterior of said sleeve pressing-members and to connect said sleevepressing members to a common ex haust, means to alternately connect onecylinder to the complementary sleeve pressingmembers on each buck whiletheother cylinder connects the other pair of said complementary sleevepressingmembers to the exhaust.

26. The structure of claim 23, wherein an automatic duplex valveoperated by air under pressure is interposed between the sleeve pressingmembers and the second air valve to continuously, and alternately. admitair under pressure to and exhaust from the complementary. sleevepressing members as long as air under pressure is admitted through thesecond valve, and wherein said duplex valve includes two cylindersconnected to a common exhaust and each cylinder connected to-the.

second valve, pistons in each cylinder movable to connect the .saidsecond valve to the interior of said sleeve pressing members and toconnect said sleeve pressing members to the .common exhaust,

means to alternatel connect one cylinder tothe.

complementary sleeve pressing members on each buck while the othercylinderconnects the other pair of said complementary sleeve pressingmembers to the exhaust, and wherein said .means includes an oiT-centersnap-action mechanism..

27. The structure of claim23, wherein an automatic duplex valve operatedby air under pressure is interposed between the sleeve pressing membersand the second air valve to continuously and alternately admit air underpressure to and exhaust from the complementary sleeve pressing membersas long asair under pressure is admitted through the second valve, andwherein said duplex valve includes two cylinders connected to a commonexhaust and .each cylinder connected to the second valve, pistons ineach cylinder movable to connect the said second valve to the interiorof said sleeve pressing members and to connect said sleeve pressingmembers to a common exhaust, means to alternately connect one cylinderto the complementary sleeve pressing members on each buck while theother cylinder connects the other pair of said complementary sleevepressing members to the exhaust, and wherein said means includes an offcenter snapaction mechanism actuated by the movement of a piston rod ofa piston reciprocating in a cylinder by means connecting one side of thepiston in the snap-action operating cylinder through a cylinder of theduplex valve to the said second air valve and at the same timeconnecting the other side of said piston through said second cylinder insaid duplex valve to the common exhaust.

28. In a garment press, sleeve receiving bucks and buck receiving heads,means to move'said bucks and heads into and out of pressing relation,each buck having-two oppositely disposed expansible and contractiblesleeve pressing members, control means for expanding the complementarymembers while contracting the other complementary members tosimultaneously impart precisely the same pressing finish to both sleevesof a shirt, said means including a source of air under pressure and anautomatic duplex valve continuously and alternately connecting one pairof complementary sleeve pressing members to the source of air underpressure while the other pair are connected to'an exhaust and thenconnecting the second pair of complementary members to the source of airunder pressure and the first pair of complementary members to theexhaust.

29; The structure of claim 28, wherein said last named means includes -asnap-action actuator operated by air under pressure from a cylinder ofthe duplex valve to cut off air under pressure to that cylinder and toconnect the other cylinder of said valve to the source of air underpressure.

30. The structure of claim 28, wherein said last named means includes asnap-action actuator operated by air under pressure from a cylinder ofthe duplex valve to cut off air under pressure to that cylinder and toconnect the other cylinder of said valve to the source of air underpressure and wherein said actuator is reciprocated by the movement of apiston in-a cylinder connected on the opposite sides of the piston tothe opposite cylinders of the duplex valve.

31. In a garment press a sleeve receiving buck and a buck receivingheadgmeans to move said buck and head into and out of pressing relation,said buck having a central hollow-shaft pivotally mounted at one end onthe carriage and supporting a cylinder in communication with the shaftat the other end, an expansible and contractible cuff and gussetpressing member mounted about saidcylinder and in communicationtherewith, the -opposite end of the hollow shaft being connected withthe source of air under pressure, a'piston mounted in said cylinder toreciprocate, a piston rod extending through the outer end of saidcylinder, a spring member secured to the exterior of said piston rodadapted to engage and hold the cuff of a shirt about said pressingmember when'the piston is in its lowermost position.

32. The structure of claim 31, including means to admit air underpressure to said hollow shaft and cylin'derasthebuck is received-*withinthe head to expand the pressing member against the interior surface ofthe head-andto admit air below the piston inthe cylinder'to carry-thespring engaging the cuff out of engagement therewith beforethe pressingoperation is completed.

HARRY D. FORSE. ROLLIN'E. CAMPBELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are'of record in, the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,184,375 Beede Dec. 26, 19392,278,959 Williams Apr. '7, 1942 2,327,492 Braun Aug. 24, 1943 2,337,086Davis Dec. 21, 1943 2,348,330 Couch May 9, 1944 2,420,818 Davis May 20,1947

